De Beers Hating on New ‘Blood Diamond’s’ Movie

‘”Blood Diamond,” Ed Zwick’s film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly, doesn’t open until Dec. 15, but it’s already getting more free publicity than Warner Bros. could have dreamed of. Set in the late ’90s when rebel militias seized control of Sierra Leone’s diamond mines, selling rough gems to buy weapons they used to slaughter and mutilate many thousands of innocent people, “Blood Diamond” tells a fictional tale of two South Africans, a white mercenary and a black fisherman, who find a rare pink diamond.But even two months before its release the film has spurred talk that it could turn consumers off to buying diamonds for fear their money would be supporting murderers.

De Beers, the international diamond cartel that controls the majority of the world’s diamonds, has gone on the offensive to try to distance the industry from the history depicted in the film. But according to Ken Sunshine, Leonardo DiCaprio’s publicist, those connected with the movie feel the stepped-up public relations efforts have backfired for De Beers.